After dominant regular season, Vero Beach ready for playoff run

Indians (20-3) excelled against challenging schedule

No team has played better volleyball on the Treasure Coast this fall than Vero Beach.

And that's saying something considering that the Fighting Indians' schedule included defending Class 7A state champion Martin County and Class 5A state semifinalist Jensen Beach.

Vero Beach (20-3) won both matches and is poised to make a deep run into the state playoffs.

The path begins Thursday when Vero defends its District 6-8A championship.

"We are playing very well," Vero Beach coach Sarah Eckert said. "We've been getting stronger in practice and pushing harder. That's important because I know as soon as we hit the first round of the regional that we have to have good, crisp play."

Vero already is assured of a berth in the regional tournament because of its three-team district. As the regular-season champion, Vero has a bye into the final.

District finalists advance to regionals with the champion hosting a regional quarterfinal.

"We have to go in to play our best game," Eckert said. "If we can build momentum during the district finals and carry that into the first round (of regionals), I think that will help the girls by giving them more confidence. It sets the pace and the tone."

"I have fantastic seniors and juniors and a very talented sophomore class," Eckert said. "I've been waiting a while for this team. The seniors and juniors, I've seen developing and growing over time. We have the experience and I think we can pull it together."

Jensen Beach, Martin County and the Pine School also defend district championships this week.

Jensen Beach, which suffered a five-set loss to rival Martin County late last week, hosts the District 15-5A tournament.

"We just need to make sure that we continue playing at the highest level we can," coach Mike Sawtelle said. "We will use the district tournament hopefully to fine-tune our game on offense and defense and use that to prepare for the playoff road."

Sawtelle is most concerned about Suncoast, which is the only district team that won a set against Jensen Beach this season.

"We let our guard down and they came out and beat us and took one set," he said. "We need to play with our full intensity and not let our guard down from here on out for the remainder of the season."

Martin County lacks the dominant hitter that has been its calling card for many seasons, but hasn't lost its mojo. Coach Krissy Schmidt stacked the schedule with top-notch competition, especially over the last two weeks, and expects that to pay off. She knows Martin County, which has played in three straight state title games and won two, will be everyone's target.

"If you're not playing the best teams in the area, you're not going to be where you're supposed to be," she said. "We struggled a bit toward the front end of the year, but we came together and are starting to really click. We had a very good weekend in Orlando then the tough loss to Boca. (Against Jensen Beach last week), I think we made a few big steps forward in where we are as a team."

Pine School picked up a late-season win at Fort Pierce Central's Dig Pink tournament which should provide momentum into the district.

"I think if we cut down on a few unforced errors and keep serving the way we have the past couple of games, we should fare well," coach Joe Keenan said. "The team has a lot of heart and love for the game."